by E. S Night
“I had another vision, I saw you lying there in the woods and I came and got you.”
“You said you’ve only had four visions in your whole life, why are they coming to you more frequently?”
“That’s another question my family are going to ask the counsel, see if they know anything about what’s going on with us.”
“Okay that doesn’t worry me at all.” I scoffed. “Did you see the guy? Or the men? They fell down that hole Grayson – please tell me you got them out of there.” I cried fearing that they hadn’t been rescued.
“Abi, I didn’t see any hole or men anywhere, it was just you lying on the ground.”
“What! But it happened.” I said, squinting my eyes trying to remember more about the last hour.
“I believe you, look, there are crazy things happening at the minute and I can’t explain them any better than you can. I hope when my family get back they have more information about what’s going on.” Grayson said sensitively, moving in for a kiss.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t talked to you for a week, I was just processing it all.” I moved down the couch so he could kiss me.
“I know. I know you love me so I had nothing to worry about.” He answered arrogantly leading me to move my face away from him.
“I love you Abigail Lawson.” He smiled.
“I love you.” I spoke, touching his lips with mine.
Chapter Nineteen
Double Date
Grayson took me home so I could rest and tell my mum what had happened. Whilst I was in the car, I touched the back of my head to see if the cut had gotten any worse. I searched for the wound, but I couldn’t find anything. My head was fine, it didn’t even hurt any more. I put it down to Grayson overreacting about my safety as per usual.
He parked his car outside my house, a visual demonstration to my family we’d made up. Grayson could tell that I was nervous about getting out of the car.
“You okay? I’m sure your mum won’t mind us being together.” He tried to relieve my nerves.
I grabbed his hand on his lap ensuring that he knew I wasn’t uncomfortable about our relationship. “It’s not that at all. I don’t know what to say when I go back in there. The last time I saw my mum was this morning when I ran off and ignored her to find you.” I laughed.
“Just say you got a text from me saying I had an accident or something, make something up.”
He smiled.
“That’s actually a great idea.” I leaned over to kiss his cheek.
“Not to make myself sound like the needy boyfriend or anything but when am I seeing you again? Like you said we haven’t seen each other for days.” He pressed, encouraging me to make a plan.
“Well, I don’t know if Colton would be interested but I was supposed to tell you that Riley wants a double date type thing. If you’re not into it, it doesn’t matter – I can make an excuse.”
“That sounds quite fun, so yeah – why not? It’ll be good to get everyone’s minds off what’s been happening. I’ll pick you both up at six; we can have a meal at my house.”
“That sounds perfect.” I said opening the car door. “I’ll see you then, love you.” I said getting out of the car.
“Love you.” I heard Grayson say as I walked towards my house. As soon as I entered the hallway, I saw Riley sitting on the couch in the living room.
“Where the hell have you been? Your mum's gone ballistic – call much?” Riley shouted
leading me to panic.
“Is that her?” I heard my mum yell from upstairs.
“You’re so in trouble.” Riley laughed, knowing now I was safe.
“For your sake, you better hope not, I’ve just got us a double date with Grayson and Colton tonight.” I heard my mum plod down the stairs.
“What! You and Grayson made up? That’s great - Colton! Seriously, I am so in love with you right now.” Riley said, excited at having a social life again.
The look on my mum’s face wasn’t pretty. “Where have you been?”
“Listen, let me explain, I had a text from Grayson’s brother this morning saying that there had been an accident and Gray had hurt his head falling off a ladder. I panicked and then saw the newspaper, it was all a bit overwhelming to be honest – I’m sorry I ignored you, it was wrong.” I spoke, masking my deceit.
Mum’s expression moved from angry to concerned, causing me to think I’d gotten away with it. “It’s okay; just let me know next time something like this happens, how’s Grayson now and what was he doing on a ladder?” She asked,
prompting me to think on my feet.
“His mum bought some hanging baskets and wanted them putting up, so Grayson volunteered to do it, but then he slipped. He’s okay now though, the emergency doctor has checked him out at home. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to go over there later with Riley.” I continued, impressing myself with my new ability to lie.
“It’s fine, I’m just going to call Konrad and tell him not to worry, just don’t let that family treat you like dirt again.” Mum rushed off into the kitchen.
“None of that was true, was it?” Riley whispered.
“Nope.” I snapped.
“You’re not going to tell me where you’ve been are you?” She asked looking for answers.
“Nope.” I repeated.
“Normally I would take offence and make you tell me, but I have a date with Colton tonight so you have lucked out. Now can we please get ready? I need to do my tan and my nails – there are just not enough hours in the day.” Riley stomped up the stairs.
“You realise you have like - three hours.” I said, following her.
Riley rushed into the bathroom ahead of me; I could hear her turning on the shower and I knew she’d be half an hour in there. I walked to my wardrobe, worrying about what to wear. There was a red summer dress hanging at the side, after twenty minutes of indecisiveness, I chose that – I remembered that red is Grayson’s favourite colour. I snatched my converse from the shelf and added a little make-up to my face. When Riley came out of the bathroom, she came over and pulled out my ponytail releasing my blonde curls - I guess I was wearing my hair down tonight.
I had to admit getting ready with Riley was a breath of fresh air; it gave me the sense of normalcy I was craving. Surprisingly, we were both ready for six and waited for Grayson’s car downstairs. Riley appeared to be troubled about the date – I’d never seen her like this before, maybe it was because it was a blind date between her and Colton but, lucky for her Colton was amazing looking.
Grayson arrived promptly as always and escorted us both to the car; I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of him being such a gentleman. The car ride over to his house was rather amusing. Riley
couldn’t stop herself from asking Gray inappropriate questions. Much to his relief we reached his house ten minutes later, Colton must have heard the car in the driveway because he came outside to meet us.
“Hey guys.” Colton walked over. “Hi Riley, welcome.” He said gently, peaking her interest straight away.
“Let’s go inside.” Grayson urged us all into the house.
Both men led us to the balcony of the conservatory; they had set up a quaint table filled with scented candles and roses. Colton pulled out Riley’s chair, gesturing for her to sit down. I could tell that she’d never been treated this way before and I could see by her face she didn’t know how to handle it. Colt sat across from her and pulled out a white rose from underneath the table, he’d had this all planned to perfection.
He gazed at Riley as she sipped her champagne; she noticed his obvious glances and smiled, blushing with nervousness. They barely even noticed that Gray, and I were with them. Conversation at last was flowing and the food that Gray and Colton had prepared was delicious. When dinner was served, they shared
their food off each other’s plate, I didn’t understand if it was cute or disgusting but I went along with it. I continued to refill my champagne glass, irrit
ated that Grayson, and I were practically babysitting the pair of them. The dessert was a chocolate sundae with cream; Riley took a huge bite and got some on her lip. Colton reached out to her lips and moved his thumb over her mouth, boldly removing the cream away from her lip-gloss.
Grayson must have felt as uncomfortable as I did because he quickly interfered with their romantic moment. “Okay then, Colt why don’t you take Riley to the living room and get to know each other better in there.”
Colt and Riley were past the stage of tipsy now as they continued to giggle and stumble their way into the lounge.
“I’m sorry about my brother; please come upstairs with me?” Gray put forward, wanting to get as far away as he could from the two of them.
“I’m sorry about my friend and yes, I’d like that.” I laughed.
Grayson led me up to his room; I was almost worried to see it. Amazingly, it was the room I
had once barged into weeks before.
He opened the door and my eyes jumped to the wolf painting above Grayson’s bed, it was beautiful. His bedroom was immaculate, not like mine – after a bad week, you’d be lucky to see the floor in my bedroom. His room was stylish, sleek with striking gloss in black and red. There was a bookshelf that covered one side of the wall and a huge easel that settled in the corner of the room.
“This is amazing.” I said, walking further into his room.
Playfully he edged me towards the bed. “Thank you.”
“Oh - so this was your plan all along, was it? To get rid of them and then bring me up here.” I smiled.
“No, although it has worked out that way and I do want to kiss you right now.” He grinned, pushing both of us onto the bed.
We spent what felt like hours continuously kissing and talking about our future together, forgetting about Riley’s and Colton’s company downstairs. I thought about how Grayson is the love of my life as our touch grew more passionate.
Chapter Twenty
Carnage
I woke up early; it was only half seven in the morning. My mind fixated on the young woman’s murder, I couldn't think of anything else. I glanced at Grayson’s side of the bed; he was still sound asleep. He was well adjusted for handling these types of situations. I grabbed Gray’s shirt from the floor, deciding to let him sleep in. His family were coming back today, but I was keen to make us a romantic breakfast before they arrived home, perhaps that would distract my brain long enough from thinking about that poor girl.
I made my way to kitchen worried about waking Grayson. I half-expected Riley and Colt to be passed out on the couch, but no one was downstairs. I’m sure they spent the rest of the night on the beach or God forbid the B&B – nothing is off limits when Riley's concerned. Although just to make sure, I had plans to ring her after breakfast. I was fifteen minutes into my amateur attempt at cooking when I heard the front door burst open. Someone came charging into the house, I could hear them treading
heavily towards the kitchen. The aroma from the sausages sweltering in the pan must have alerted them to my presence.
I could see a figure hurrying around the corner; I was relieved when I saw that it was Isaac. I pulled down the white shirt preventing Grayson’s brother from seeing my underwear; this was not how I planned my morning. I could see from the look on his face that something was wrong, and I was afraid to even ask.
“What’s the matter?” I said, hearing Grayson hurrying down the stairs.
“Did you see it?” Isaac spoke.
Grayson looked at me. “See what?”
Isaac sighed. “There have been four more murders Grayson, did you get a vision?”
“What! Four more people have been killed?” I was in complete shock.
“Shut up Abigail!” Isaac yelled at me.
“Don’t you dare! No, I didn’t get a vision – did you?” Grayson defended me.
“No, someone’s controlling our powers. There’s a reason we weren’t able to save the girl, our vision came too late. Now, there are four more murders and we didn’t see them! I tried ringing mum and dad but I can’t get hold of any
of them, I’m worried – God knows what the humans are planning to do now and they’re getting more and more suspicious of me. They have asked me to take a few days off work, because I’m new and apparently, it’s a lot to deal with – but it’s not anything to do with that, they don’t trust me. Why should they? The murders only started when we got here, it’s only a matter of time before we get found out – we have to leave.” Isaac insisted, visibly shaken from the past few hours.
Grayson tried to settle his brother’s nerves. “Calm down! The family should be back in three hours, I got a text last night off Aidan, and if they aren’t back in time, then we can worry. What happened to the four people that were killed?”
“A lot, they were ripped apart Grayson. There were four men searching the woods yesterday morning near our house. One of the family members reported them missing about seven in the evening when they hadn’t returned home all day. We found them within two hours in the forest and so far, fortunately the news hasn’t broken out in town.”
“Wait! You found them? What did you see?” Grayson asked, prompting Isaac to take a seat
across from me.
“Yeah, I found them with two other officers. When I first got there, I knew the land was stained. I could sense the evil almost immediately before I even saw the bodies. The men had been slaughtered and then their bodies were staged. They were scattered in pieces over the rocks. The cause of death for every man was having his throat bloody torn out!” Isaac was clearly disturbed with the imagery he was forced to witness.
“I’m sorry Isaac.” Grayson walked towards his brother.
“The remains have been sent to the hospital on the island so they can examine the bodies, then they’ll be shipped over to the mainland. The families of the victims have to assist in the investigation; the chief said they would have to get the dental records of the men so they can identify them.” Isaac was suffering.
“You don’t have to tell us any more, that’s enough.” Grayson insisted, consoling his sibling.
Isaac, however, could not stop talking. “Mr Potter’s head was the first thing I saw lying on the ground; I’d seen him a few times at his wife’s flower shop helping her get the stock out of the
van. Mr Deacon’s upper torso had been bitten twice and a bite on his left thigh was so deep you could see the bone. I hadn’t seen him before but apparently, he was a keen angler on the island and retired when his wife died. Mr Norris was a bus driver; he heard about the murder of Michelle and wanted to help, he even booked a shift off work so he could search the woods – his right hand was mauled where he’d attempted to defend himself. It looked as if Mr Timmins was killed last from the lacerations on his face and hands, he had bravely tried to help his friends fight the wolf off. He was forty-seven years old, his daughter had just turned nineteen two weeks ago. The investigators will have to use DNA to determine what type of animal did this but, of course, they won’t find anything – because this is no wolf. I don’t believe one of our kind is capable of any of this, not even a mutt.” Isaac spoke, with tears falling from his eyes.
Grayson hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “You know mutts can do this Isaac, you’ve seen it before. They lose their packs and they go crazy, it’s nothing new but we need to stop it.”
“You didn’t see it! It wasn’t a wolf, I’ve seen
mutt killings – this wasn’t one of them! Lone wolves are frantic and unpredictable. They run off soon after they have killed someone. The medical examiner said the murderer was on the scene for at least two hours scrupulously playing with the bodies. What 'mutt' do you know does that? The more the bodies are investigated the more they will conclude that either wolves killed the men, and a human staged the whole thing or that a human is responsible for the deaths and is making it look like the wolves have done it – either way, our family is screwed!” Isaac jum
ped up, kicking over his stool.
I looked up at Isaac, scared to speak to him. “Is that what they are saying? That a person is to blame.”
Isaac sighed. “Before I left the station - that was pretty much the consensus on all the officer’s minds. You should ask yourself this, the injuries that the men suffered were horrific, they were being killed off one at a time, they were screaming at the top of their lungs. Why did no one hear them? There are plenty of houses around, ours included – but no one heard anything. I think we need to wrap our heads around the fact we may have been found.”
“Wait! I need to tell you something. I saw the four men you’re on about yesterday morning. They were running after something in the woods but I couldn’t see what they were chasing and then they fell. It was as if the ground swallowed them up. I was running after them but then couldn’t stop myself; it was as if I was cursed or something. A guy ended up pushing me out of the way.” I explained, glancing back at Grayson for approval.
“Did you know about this? Why didn’t you tell me about it when I told you the four men had been murdered? What did the man look like Abigail?” Isaac waited impatiently for my response.
“I told Grayson, he was the one that brought me back from the woods. He said there wasn’t any hole, and he didn’t see the men – I thought I’d just hit my head running or something.”
“I’m right here Abigail I can talk for myself.” Grayson snapped at me.
Isaac smirked at his brother. “What did the man who rescued you look like Abigail?”
I stared at Isaac. “He was blonde, blue eyed - a bit older than me.” My description struck a nerve because Isaac seemed extremely sketchy
